Railroad-tie and rail-grip.



- mammozm. FEAILBOAD TIE AND BAIL GRIP.

A'BPLIOATIOH TILED JUHE20,19M.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915 OFFICE.

macaroni), or sax/r LAKE cm, nun.

RAILROAD-T1 3. AND BAIL- GRIP.

Specification of Letter: ratent.

Patented ar a. a, was.

Application filed June 20, 1914. Serial No. 846,268.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JEREMIAH E. Lanerono, of SaltLalce Cit in the county of Salt Lake, 'and in the tate of Utah, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railroad-Ties and Rail-Grips, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof. I My invention relates particularly to ties adapted to be used in railroads and provided with means for securing the rails thereto. It has special reference, however,

to metallic ties and particularly steel ties designed for this purpose.

The object of my invention is to provide a railroad tie and railrip which may be used on earth or -gravel eds, in concrete constructions, on aved streets, on wooden wharves or trest es, as well as steel constructions such, for example, as bridges.

A further object of my invention is to provide a rail tie and gripping means which is adapted to hold the rails in place without the necessity of applying any railway spikes.

A further object of my invention is to provide a metallic railway tie which 18 so arran ed as to effectively insulate the two rails lOll'l each other so as to avoid any interference with signaling devices which are dependent upon the closing of an electric circuit between the two rails as, for example, through the wheels and axles of a car passing over the rails.

A further object of my invention is to provide a. railroad tie of this kind which is exceedingly simple and which is, neverthe' less, very strong in construction.

While my invention is capable of embodiment in many different forms, for the purpose of illustration I have shown only one form thereof in the accompanying drawin 's, in whichigure 1 is a plan view of a railroad constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a rail and gripping means partly in section; Fig. i is an end elevation of the gripping means; and Fig. is a crosssection of a tie with the rail in place.

In the drawings, 1 have shown a railroad tie 1 which is in the shape of a channel bar. That is to say, it is comprised 01? a base 2 and two lateral, upwardly directed flanges 3. The base 2 is preferably provided with a plurality of openings 4 to properly anchor the tie to the roadbed. In the case of earth or gravel roadbeds, the earth or gravel passing throu h the openings 4 and resting upon the top 05 the base 2 will eiiectively anchor the tie inplace. \Vhere the .tie is used upon trestles or bridges, and where the tie is to be attached to longitudinal stringers, spikes or bolts may be passed through the opening t to attach the tie to the same. The flanges 3 have beveled ends 5 to preventinjury to workmen when laying or repairing the railroad. As shown in Fig. 2 the tie 1 is arranged to support a plurality of rails 6 of the usual form in cross-section. Each of these rails 6 is supported in a pair of inner grip plates 7 so arranged as to leave openings 8 between the grip plates 7 and the edges of the rail, so as to produce a wed ing grip upon the base of the rail, when it is placed in position in the manner hereinafter described. The inner grip plates 7 rest against plates or strips 9 of fiber or other electrically insulating material, and the strips or plates 9 in turn rest within .outer grip plates 10. The outer grip plates 10 are tapered so as to be thinner at one end than the other, so that they may act as wedges when being inserted in the ties to hold the rails in place. The outer grip plates 10 may be provided with recesses 11 to receivecorresponding projections 12 on the inner grip plates 7, the upper ends of which grip plates 7 are bent over in such a manner as to cause the projections 12 to register with the .recesses 11. One of the principal advantages of turning the up or ends of the inner grip plates 7 over in tie manner described is to )roven t an accumulation of water on the arse of the rail from establishing an electrical clrcuit between the inner grip plates '7 and the outer grip plates 10. Preferably the grip plates 7 and 10 and the insulating plates or straps 9 are cemented together with any suitable cement. The lateral flanges 3 on the ties have recesses or opcnings,13 provided therein to receive the rails 6 and the grip plates. Said openings 13 at their uppermost portions are substantially the width of the bases of the rails to be supported by the ties. Below the upper parts of these openings 13, however, the openings are widencd in such a manner as to receive the grip plates 7 and 10. If desired, as shown in Fig. 5, the openings 13 may be produced by cutting the sides of said opening and bending downwardly in the interior of the tie the portions 14,- socut out, until they rest against the base 2' ofthe tie. The presence of these turned down ortions 14: tends to strengthen the ties. e openings 13 are, of course, made in such a way that the openings in one of the flanges dare alittle Wider than the openings in-the other flange 3 in order to accommodate the tapering outer grip plates 10.

Railroads may be constructed primarily with ties of this character or they may be repaired by replacin other forms of ties with ties of this kind. Assuming that the railroad is being built with ties of this kind, the ties are placed at the proper intervals along the roadbeci, and the rails are then dropped into place .in the openings 18. The inner grip plates 7 and outer grip plates 10 and interposed strips of insulating material 9 whiclrhave been previously, preierably attached together by means of cement, are now applied to the rails by insertion thereof between the edges of the bases of the rails and the wider portions of the recesses or openings 13, the thinner ends of the outer grip plates 10 being inserted lirst and the composite grip plates being then driven in place until the wedging action of the grip plates on the bases of the rails tightly clamps the rails in place. If the railroad is being laid along the ground or upon gravel, the roadbed is now filled with the earth or gravel up to the required level, and the ties are now securely held in place by this means. If, on the other hand, the railroad is being laid along a trestle or on a bridge, fastening means may be applied through the openings -t to securely hold the tics in place. An accumulation of water along the bases of the rails 6 will not establish anelectrical circuit between the inner grip plates 7 and the outer grip plates 10, owing to the position of the turned over ends of the inner grip plates 7. The two rails 6 will therefore be insulated from each other and signaling systems involving the completion of a circuit between the rails when the train passes, will not be interfered with.

While I have described my invention above in detail, I wish it to be understood that many changes may be made therein Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In combination, a railroad tie having a recess to receive a rail and tapering clamping means at the side of the rail, coinrisin an inner and outer plate separated y. an insulating plate.

2. In combination, a railroad tie having a recess to receive a rail and ta eriiig clamping means at the side of the rai comprising an inncr and outer plate separated by an insulating plate, the inner plate and insulating plate having their ends turned over the end of the outer late.

3. In combination, a railroad tie having a recess to receive a rail and tapering clamping means at the side of the rail, comrising an inner and outer plate separated insulating plate having their ends turned over the. end of the outer plate into a reccss' in the outer plate.

4. In combination, a U-shaped railroad tie having a recess to receive a rail and tapering clamping aneans at the side of the rail, comprising an inner and outer plate separated by an insulating plate.

5. In combination, a U-shaped railroad tie having a recess to receive a rail and tapering clamping means at the side of the rail, comprising an inner andoutcr plate separated by an insulating plate, the inner plate and insulating plate having their ends turned over the end of the outer plate.

6. In combination, a U-shaped railroad tie having a recess to receive a rail and tapering clamping means at the side of the rail, comprising airinner and outer plate separated by an insulating plate, the inner plate and insulating plate having their ends turned over the end of the outer plate into a rcccss in the outer plate.

7. In combination. a U-shapcd railroad tic having a recess to receive a rail and tapering clamping means at the side 01 the rail, comprising an inner and outer plate separated by an insulating plate, the material from the recess being bent downwardly to the base of the U-sha'pcd tie.

S. In combination, a U-shapcd railroad tic having a. recess to receive a rail and tapering clamping means at the side of the rail, comprising an inner and outer plate separated by an insulating plate, the inner plate and insulating plate having their ends turned over the end of the outer plate, the material from the recess being bent do\vn wardly to the base of the U-shapcd tie.

9. In combination, a U-shapcd railroad tic having a recess to receive a rail and tapering clamping means at the side of the rail, comprising an inner and outer plate separated by an insulating plate, the inner plate and insulatin plate having their ends turned over the eni l of the outer plate into a recess in the outer plate, the material from the recess being bent downwardly to the base of the U-shaped tic.-

10. In combination, a railroad tie having a recess to receive a rail and tapering clamping means at the side of the rail, com prising an inner andouter plate separated by an insulating plate, said plates being united with c: ment.

11. In combination, a railroad tie having a recess to receive a rail and tapering y an insulating plate, the inner plate and c'igmping means at $11: side of the mil,.c0m-

. sag an inns? and enter plats sspzammd Y an insulnizzg late, fine mast plate and listing; plum naming their ends filmed 3m Qikfii m2 $110 mater plaza, said Plates ruled. wiaih 02:51am.

1 semL-imticn, milmnd tie having m ramivs s. rail, ouiside wedging 2:0? damping 5m mil the ids, in-

sulating plates insidie of the same anti inner gripping; plates inside of the insulating plates,

In testimony that I claim the foragaing I have: hereunto set my hand.

JEREMIAH E. LANGFOED. 'Wimesses:

Azx'rnun Wmczn, @mwzan Scnwmwzamn. 

